Hexen Hausen
by Saoirse agus amach
Summary: Onyx Osborne is an American witch recovering from a deatheater attack at the headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix. She finds healing and solace in Sirius Black but when she is shown an image of the original Order she's shocked to see her stepfather standing with his arm around a red-headed woman. Could James Potter actually be alive? (Sirius x OC) (James x OC) (Remus x Tonks)
1. Prologue

_Hi Everyone! It's been literally years since I've written a story, but I got the bug. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 _Get up. You cannot spend the rest of your life wallowing in self-pity in a stranger's house. Get up. Move your body. You're not dead...yet._

Onyx willed herself towards the door of her small bedroom at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. She was tired of being catered to by Molly, even though the woman had good intentions, Onyx couldn't take another day of mothering. Besides, she had to restart her life somehow. It had been two weeks since Zed had brought her here to recover from her attack. Onyx tried not to think about it. She tried to shove the torture and the fear and the humiliation suffered at the hands of deatheaters down into a little box in the back of her brain. She tried. But the damn box had a leak.

 _You need to meet people. You need to feel human again._

Onyx reached for the door handle but caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The faded red shift dress she wore - given to her by Molly - hung off of her like a bag. Her already unruly hair was a matted mess and her usual tan had faded to the color of paper. Her arms were covered with ugly yellow and purple bruises, the beginnings of a nasty scar had begun to twist around her calf down to her ankle. Quickly, Onyx wrestled her hair into a bun, threw on a cardigan sweater and leggings, and pinched her cheeks to create the illusion of a blush. Finally, she opened the door and followed the sound of voices into the kitchen.

When she arrived, the chorus of conversation halted. Molly came towards her, "Oh dear, you didn't need to get up! I'll be right in with some soup!"

"Thank you Molly." Onyx barely recognized her own gravelly voice. "I actually was just wanting to get some new scenery for a bit. Besides, it would be nice to put faces to the voices I've been hearing for two weeks. Is - is it ok if I eat with everyone?" Onyx chewed on her lower lip. _Good god woman, since when are you timid?_

Molly beamed. "Of course! I'm so happy you're well! Sit down right here next to Sirius." Molly motioned to a scraggly man sitting at the head of the large dining table. Of course Onyx knew all about the infamous Sirius Black. His innocence came as a shock to her and the others on her team when Dumbledore had come propositioning them for help. "Now." Molly continued. "That's Remus," she pointed at an exhausted looking man across the table from Onyx. "And these are mine. That's Ron, Ginny, Bill, George and Fred." Molly pointed towards each teenager in turn, "and over there is Harry and Hermione."

"Hi everyone. I'm Onyx, none of you have actually met me yet." Onyx lamely told the assembly.

"We've never met an American before, are you an auror?" The girl, Hermione, questioned.

"Well, sort of." Nyx replied and tried to figure out how to explain her job - and what she was - to a teenager. "My team works with aurors. But we work more internationally and with more than just run of the mill evil wizards. We also use a lot of experimental magic."

The group seemed impressed with her answer and dinner was served shortly after. Onyx didn't talk much during the meal, preferring to sit back and observe the interactions of the others. She decided she liked the twins very much, they caused her to actually smile for the first time in weeks. _See! Isn't it nice to be with people? Don't you feel yourself getting stronger? By the way, Sirius has a nice smile._ Onyx tried to shake her thoughts away as the meal ended and everyone dispersed.


	2. Slow Burn

Over the next few days Onyx gathered her strength and spent more and more time among the residents of Grimmauld Place. She found that she was no longer a stranger to these people, instead they accepted her as a friend. She reveled in the antics of the twins and they knew they could always find a willing audience for their pranks with her. Onyx was delighted to meet Tonks - another woman in a field dominated by men. The two became fast friends, swapping stories often late in to the night.

As for the owner of the house. Well. How could Onyx describe what she saw in Sirius Black? They had both seen horror. Maybe that was why when, after the others were fast asleep, the pair found themselves commiserating over bottles of whiskey. They both came from dysfunctional families - Onyx the daughter of a teenage mom and Sirius the son of a family who rejected him. They were both fiercely loyal to the cause. All these things would have made them close but this was different. This was more than alumnus of the school of hard knocks finding common ground in one another. The long glances and lingering embraces spoke to both of them of the potential for something so much more. Although Onyx figured him to be at least a decade older than her, she had never been as drawn to men her own age as she was to Sirius. Time and time again she found herself seeking his company, desiring to explore this - whatever _this_ was - more deeply.

It was after a night of particularly bad terrors - when she could not tell if she was truly safe or if this was just another tortured illusion - that she wandered up to Sirius' attic door. Onyx barely knocked when the heavy wooden door was opened.

"Can't sleep?" Sirius moved aside to let her in, checked the hallway, and closed the door.

"No. Not tonight." Onyx settled herself into one of the large overstuffed chairs in front of the window. The attic smelled of aged paper and stale cigarettes. A shaft of moonlight illuminated particles of dust floating through air. Onyx never bothered asking why he preferred this dusty attic to the empty bedroom downstairs.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Sirius reached for the bottle of firewhiskey on the nightstand and passed it to Onyx who took a long pull.

"No. I just -" Onyx hesitated and made eye contact with Sirius. "I just didn't want to face it alone."

Sirius sat in the other chair next to Onyx and took her hand in his, a gesture that had become quite common between them. The two sat in companionable silence, enjoying the view of moonlit London and occasionally taking drinks from the bottle. Onyx was beginning to feel a good buzz and stood to walk closer to the window.

"My mom told me a story about the moon once. Before the moon existed nights were as black as a cave. Every night people would go into morning over the loss of the sun's light, men feared to leave their homes because of all the dark creatures who came out. Finally, one clever witch created a giant mirror which would reflect the sun's rays. She charmed it into the sky and now lives on the tallest point of the tallest mountain and every morning and evening charms the sun and the moon to show their light." Onyx was thinking about her mom, about how they hadn't spoken since well before the attack.

She turned away from the window and started a bit at seeing Sirius mere inches from her. He put a hand on her cheek and stroked her lips with his thumb. When Onyx gasped at the touch Sirius leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. Onyx wrapped her arms around Sirius and deepened the kiss, opening her lips to grant his tongue access. _This_. This was what they both had been waiting for. Their bodies moved in harmony as they made their way to the bed, clothes peeling off, kisses, and small bites were exchanged in perfect choreography.

Sirius held himself up, heat radiated from Onyx's core. "Are you sure you want this 'Nyx?" He managed to fumble out the words, unwilling to go further until he heard her consent.

"Yes Sirius," Onyx moved her hips beneath him. "Never wanted anything more in my life."

And he sunk into her and both their worlds changed in an instant.


	3. Revelations

I really appreciate all of the follows and likes. Please review, I haven't written in years and am really hoping for some feedback as well.

Onyx opened her eyes to see sunshine flooding the attic room. Sirius snored gently next to her, his arm casually slung over midsection as if they had been together for years. Sleep took decades off of Sirius' usually concerned face. Onyx wondered how he would be different if things had not gone down the way they did fourteen years previously. With his good looks and charm, Sirius probably would be married with kids of his own by now.

"You know it's not polite stare." Sirius opened his eyes blearily, smirking over at Onyx.

"Well no one has ever accused me of being polite." Onyx laughed and snuggled in closer to his chest. "I don't want to get up."

Sirius wrapped both arms around her, "Let's just hide up here today and make them all wonder where we've gone."

Onyx was about to agree wholeheartedly when they both heard a buzzing noise coming from her discarded clothes. Frantically, Onyx pulled on Sirius' shirt and rushed to the sound. Sirius joked about her keeping 'a toy' on hand she she pulled out the source of the sound - a muggle zippo lighter. When she lit the flame it flashed green and the head of Zed appeared.

" 'Nyx, you feeling better?" Zed said tersely.

"I'm fine, sir." Onyx tried to sound as if she did not just wake up.

"Good. We received intelligence of a dark mark showing up over Manhattan last night. I'm sending you and Torsten to look into it. He found deatheaters last week trying to recruit in the area. Be ready within the hour."

"Yes sir." Onyx turned back to Sirius, "Duty calls!" She tried to sound confident, but Sirius saw through the charade.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back?"

"I have to be, the team needs me. Besides, this isn't exactly..." Onyx paused, unsure how to finish, "My first rodeo." Sirius looked at her dubiously, obviously wanting more detail. Onyx took a deep breath and sat with her head on the headboard and her knees drawn up to her chest, Sirius' shirt hiked up to reveal nearly her hip bones. "A part of our training is learning how to be tortured. I've already taken too long to recover, the others will think I'm being weak."

"It's not weak to take time off after what you went through! Most wizards would have broken or gone completely insane after that!" Sirius got up from the bed and began dressing, plainly irritated.

"That's just the thing isn't it?" Onyx stood and headed for the door. "I'm not a wizard. I'm a witch, Sirius. We have to be stronger just to prove that we belong in this sort of thing." Onyx hesitated before opening the door, "I'll see you at breakfast." As she walked away she heard something heavy hit one of the walls from inside the room.

Onyx reached the hallway where her room was located and saw Tonks coming out of the bedroom Remus was staying in. The two women regarded one another conspiratorially, both knowing how the other spent their nights. Tonks winked, "Nice shirt. I won't tell if you won't tell."

"Agreed." Onyx passed and scurried to her room to pack.

Within fifteen minutes she had managed to clean up, pack, and put on some more respectable clothes. The whole time she wondered about her night with Sirius. _It's not like it meant anything. We were both just lonely. You have work to do._ Onyx tried to logic her way out of believing there were any true emotions involved. She decided to file it away for later contemplation and headed towards the kitchen where everyone had gathered.

Sirius was showing Harry an old photograph of the original Order. Curious to see what Remus and Sirius looked like when they were her age Onyx looked over Harry's shoulder. There they were, Remus looked tired - it was clearly close to the full moon when the picture was taken - and Sirius had his head thrown back in laughter. Onyx nearly jumped when she took in the man next to Sirius. He had messy black hair and glasses, his arm slung around the shoulder of a pretty red-headed woman. "Sirius, who is that?" She pointed at the man.

"That's James, Harry's dad." Onyx noted the sorrow and longing in his voice.

 _James Potter._ Onyx looked closer at the picture. She imagined the young man in the photo with fourteen years of aging and a deep scar running from his left ear to his mouth. There was no mistaking it, James Potter was her stepfather.


	4. Jaime

Thank you for reading! Please leave me a review!

* * *

Onyx wasted no time disapperating after breakfast. Torsten was waiting for her at the Manhattan office clearly irritated.

"I thought Voldemort was just a European problem. _You_ were supposed to keep this contained." Torsten flipped his long blonde mohawk out of his face and starting walking towards the directors office, snapping to indicate that Onyx should follow.

"Missed you too, Tor." She said sarcastically. The office was abuzz with what had happened the previous night. Normally, the Strategic Magic and Science Division was chiefly concerned with research and policing of out of the ordinary magic. Onyx and Torsten were one branch of the SMSD that dealt with the policing of extreme magic. When Voldemort showed his face again Onyx was sent to Europe to determine if there was a threat to the United States and if so, to contain it.

"Has the mark disintegrated yet?" She asked as they walked into Zed's office. The man himself was hunched over a map of New York City that glittered with lay lines showing the currents of magic throughout the city.

"It did this morning." Zed looked up from his map and eyed Onyx. "You sure you're ready to get back in the field?"

"Just like riding a bike, right?" Onyx tried to sound cheerful and confident. Truthfully, she wasn't sure how ready she was and she needed to get home and get to the center of the James Potter mystery.

"We've managed to track down the magic to this location." Torsten jabbed a finger down on the map. "While we were waiting for you to get back I took a team in and arrested a wizard we found there."

The indication was clear. The team didn't need her, Torsten though that she was just extra weight. As the first female field agent of the SMSD this was all too familiar to Onyx.

"We thought you could question him since you've been learning all about the deatheaters in England." Zed glared at Torsten. The Director, thankfully, didn't share the same opinion as most of the other agents. He had watched Onyx progress through the academy and was never anything other than impressed with her.

Onyx agreed and headed to the interrogation room. The use of certain magical ways of getting the incarcerated to tell the truth was strictly illegal, but there were other ways of getting them to talk. Onyx started by circling the man like a bird of prey. He was not what one would expect from a deatheater. His diminutive stature and nervous, beady eyes gave him away as easily intimidated.

"Mr. Campbell, is it?" Onyx finally sat down across from him at the table and gave a warm smile.

The wizard looked at her warily. "You won't get anything from me."

Onyx took his right forearm and waved her wand over it, no Dark Mark appeared. "Why did you summon the Mark if you're not one of Voldemort's fold?"

Campbell winced at that name and jerked his arm away. "The Dark Lord is coming." He tried to sound menacing, but the shake in his voice gave him away. "I figure I might as well choose the winning side for when he gets here."

Onyx rolled her eyes. He was just another fear monger. There was absolutely no evidence that Voldemort or his followers were trying to gain a foothold in the States. She left the room and joined Zed and Torsten in the observation area outside. "I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"Well at least you're back now, so if something _does_ happen..." Zed trailed off.

"You know I'm always up for a mission." Onyx stopped him before he could finish his though process. "But, with your permission sir, I would really like to go home for a while, I need to be with my family."

"Of course. I'll fill out the paperwork." Zed waved his hand dismissively. Onyx could tell there was something he wasn't telling her. Normally it took weeks of begging for him to allow anyone on the team time off.

"See you later golden child." Torsten mocked Onyx as they walked out of the building and separated. She chose to ignore the gibe and instead found an abandoned alley to disapperate from.

She landed in her small hometown, Raven's End, and breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she loved her job, hiding her magic was difficult to do surrounded by the masses of no-majes in New York. Here, she and all the other witches and wizards in town were free to practice without fear of the secrecy laws. Hundreds of years ago, the magic folk of the town made a deal with the no-maj leaders and magical and non magic people lived together ever since. It was only through a series of complicated legal loopholes that the town was allowed to exist, but for the couple hundred of inhabitants it was paradise.

Onyx smiled and headed for her family's diner. It was just about past the morning coffee rush so the place shouldn't be too busy. The friendly cling of the door hitting a bell hanging from the ceiling greeted her and she sat down at the bar.

"There's our girl!" Jaime came out from the kitchen and leaned over the counter to give her a big hug. The feel of his flannel shirt and the scent of coffee and cloves instantly made Onyx feel at home. "We've missed you like crazy around here." His British accent painfully reminded Onyx of the people she left behind in London. "You hungry? Give me ten minutes and I'll have a giant plate of chocolate chip pancakes ready."

"Just coffee, Jaime. Thanks though. Is Mom around?" Onyx really hoped not, she wanted a chance to speak to her stepdad alone.

Jaime shook his head. "Ollie had a school trip today, your mum volunteered as a chaperone."

Onyx's stomach clenched at the thought of her black-haired little brother who, in retrospect, shared a strong resemblance with Harry. The seven year old was currently in the no-maj school before going to Ilvermorney in a few years just like Onyx had done. She wondered how the truth about his father would affect him.

"What's going on in there?" Jaime playfully tapped her head and sat a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.

"I just -" Onyx chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I was in England for a while and it just got me thinking about your accent." She couldn't just tell him outright about her discovery, the news might make him panic or go insane depending on the type of magic that was used on him. "You really don't remember anything before waking up at Grandma and Grandpa's?"

"We've been over this, Nyxie. All I remember is waking up, meeting your mum a few weeks later, and the rest is history. Why?" Jaime sounded upset, talking about his mysterious past usually put him in a bad mood.

"If you could find out who you were, would you?" Onyx looked up from her coffee. Jaime wore a conflicted expression, his eyebrows drawn together and his lips pursed.

"It, would be nice to know." He said slowly. "But then, I suppose, I would rather look to the future than the past. And besides, all the healers said they couldn't even identify the memory spell used on me, so it's a moot point anyway."

"But if you learned something about your past," Onyx persisted. "Would you want to know who you used to be even if you can't remember it?"

"I don't know!" Jaime threw his hands in the air. "Where are all these questions coming from?"

"I - I found something." She hesitantly pulled the photograph from her jacket pocket and laid it on the counter. "I found out who you used to be."

Jaime took the photo from her and studied it carefully. He lightly ran his fingers over the fading images, stopping at his own likeness. "Where did you get this from?" He asked softly.

"I can't tell you exactly who it came from. But it is you, isn't it?" Onyx sat her cup of coffee aside and placed a hand on Jaime's forearm. "Do any of them look familiar?"

Jaime shook his head 'no' while examining the image. "It...feels familiar. But I can't...I can't grasp it. I can't..."

Onyx watched in horror as the picture fell from Jaime's hand and he slid to the floor unconscious. "Jaime!" She yelled and jumped across the counter. "Jaime!" She screamed again and shook his shoulders. She ran outside and made the sigil for magical emergencies with her wand. Within minutes a team of magical healers arrived at the diner ready to help. Through all of the noise, Jaime never opened his eyes.


	5. Asleep

Thank you all for the feedback. I'm kind of just writing in between teaching so sorry for the late update.

* * *

Onyx paced the hallway of the hospital once again. A crowd of white-robed healers stood over Jaime shaking their heads and occasionally breaking out into arguments over his condition. Mom and Ollie would be arriving any moment and she dreaded telling her family the circumstances that brought them here.

"Nyxie!" Ollie's little voice cried out from the down hall. Onyx turned in time to see him running to her with his arms wide open and hair flopping wildly in his face.

"Hey buddy!" Onyx leaned down and wrapped the small boy in a big hug while putting on a brave face. "How was your school trip?"

"Good. We went to the aquarium, I let the octopus out on accident." Ollie giggled at Onyx who took the opportunity to look at her brother more closely. He looked like Jaime, with black messy hair and dark eyes that always seemed to be thinking up some new way of getting in trouble. She thought of Harry, the eyes were different, but Onyx would bet that when the boy who lived was only seven he was also skinny and all limbs like Ollie. "Is dad ok?" Ollie looked anxiously through the window where the healers were still figuring things out.

Before she had a chance to answer Onyx was distracted by the sound of high heels clicking on the marble floors. Her mother and grandmother came walking down the hallway deep in conversation. Both women pulled her into a an embrace then her mom headed to the window.

"What. Happened?" Onyx recoiled at her mom's harsh tone. Pearl Osborne was normally sugary sweet. Today though, her curly blonde hair stuck out at odd angles and she had a fire in her eyes that Onyx had only seen on a couple of rare occasions. Next to her, Onyx's grandmother looked just as fierce as she watched the healer's work. No doubt she was judging their every move and comparing it to how she would have treated the patient when she was a healer.

"He collapsed." Onyx bit her lower lip and looked at three pairs of expectant eyes. "We were in the diner and he collapsed."

"Mrs. Osborne?" One of the healers poked his head out of the room. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Of course." Pearl nodded at the healer then instructed Onyx to keep an eye on her brother.

"What else happened, dear?" Onyx's grandmother sat on a waiting bench and motioned for Onyx to join her.

"Oh Gram!" Onyx wanted to fall into her grandmother's arms. The older woman looked stern, always in pristine clothes with not a hair out of place, but her coolness was set aside when it came to family. "I think it's all my fault."

Onyx leaned forward and rested her forehead in her palms. Strangely enough, she thought of Sirius. She didn't want to talk right now, didn't want to tell her Gram of the discovery that would tear their family apart. If he were here, Sirius would quietly hand her a glass of whiskey and sit with his hand on her back until she was ready.

"How is this possibly your fault?" Gram shook her head and waved her hand in the air dismissively.

Ollie was glued to the glass partition, barely moving while he watched the healers work and argue. "Oliver," Gram called him over to her and pulled out some coins. "Go downstairs and get me a tea, you can grab some candy too while you're at it."

"Is my dad gonna wake up?" Ollie asked quietly as he accepted the money.

"Of course, darling." Gram patted the boy on the head then scooted him towards the hallway. Once he was gone she turned back to Onyx. "Now tell me why you could possibly be blaming this on yourself? Did you curse him?"

"No!" Onyx leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. "I just showed him a picture." She pulled the photograph of the old Order out of her pocket. "I found this at...where I was on mission in England. I think it's Jaime. I'm pretty sure it's Jaime."

She handed the photo over to her grandma who gasped when she saw it. "It's been _years."_ Gram ghosted her fingers across the photo and it's subjects continued to laugh with one another.

"Gram?" Onyx watched as tears started to pool in her grandma's eyes. "You know who this is?"

"They were all so young..." Gram stared at the photo, lost in her own memories. Onyx looked at her young grandma. She still had a full head of curly brown hair, while some wrinkles had started to show around her eyes, she still looked too young to have a grandchild Onyx's age. Then again, Onyx had been born to teenage parents, so in a way Gram was too young. "Where did you get this, dear?" Gram looked imploringly at Onyx.

Something in the way she said 'dear' made Onyx view her grandmother in a different light. The slight lilt to her voice stood out and a though occurred to her, "Gram, were you a member of," Onyx looked around the abandoned hallway before leaning in and whispering. "The Order?"

Before she could get an answer Mom came out of the room that held Jaime. "They can't figure out what's wrong with him." She shook her head sadly and wrung her hands together. "They're saying it's magic, but they can't figure out what." Tears started to freely fall her face and Onyx ran to embrace her mother.

"I have to go." Gram stood up and smoothed down her skirt.

"Mama, please." Mom pleaded with Gram. "Stay with us tonight."

Gram shook her head. "I just can't. I have...some urgent matters to attend to." Before she could hear any more protests Gram hurried down the hallway.

"Take Ollie home. I'm staying here tonight."

"Mom, I really don't think-" Onyx began to argue with her mother's plan.

"'Nyx, please. Just take care of your brother."

* * *

Sirius paced his bedroom. He could hear the comings and goings of the rest of the occupants of the house down below but had no desire to join them. He couldn't stomach looking at Harry and not telling him the truth. Not letting him in on the secrets of the Order. He couldn't stand one more minute of watching Molly treat Harry - _his goddam godson_ \- like a delicate child. He appreciated the Weasleys for taking in Harry, really, he did. But. They shouldn't have had to. It should be Lily taking care of him, should be James warning him. And now his mind was spiraling down _that road._

 _"_ You're going crazy, mate." James spoke to him from the corner. One side of his lips curling into a smile.

"I'm not!" Sirius snarled back.

"You're seeing things, Padfoot." Remus stepped out from the other corner. His hair was brown once again, devoid of gray streaks, and his face less scarred than the last time Sirius had seen him.

"How do you know you're not back in Azkaban?" Now it was his own voice he heard. Much younger. He stepped out from the shadows and came face to face with himself.

"Like I said, complete nutter." James muttered in the corner.

"You're not real." Sirius glared at his younger self. "None of you are." He whispered to James and Remus. They disappeared like smoke and he was along again.

A bottle of firewhiskey sat on his desk casting a rust colored reflection by the shaft of sunlight pouring in. His mind wandered - leaped, really - to Onyx. These episodes never happened when she was around. But she was gone, back to her life. And Sirius was still here. Still stuck in this house and he could think of nothing better to do, so he drank.


End file.
